Friday, December 11, 2009

plasty - the process of shaping and forming, often surgically, ie., plastic surgery

OK, here's the big news.... I'm changing my name for publishing purposes. Or more accurately, reshaping my name. Instead of "First, Initial, Last"--still my legal signature--I have started submitting with "First, Great-grandma's Maiden Name, Last" and asking that I be published under that name.

Below are the reason for the change, and for that specific change.

1. There is another writer named Marcia Woodard.2. "Marcia Woodard" (to me, anyway) always seems kind of flat, de-fizzed.3. There are no males in my dad's line to carry on any part of the family name.4. "Marcia Whittum Woodard" acts like a tongue-twister when you try to say it.5. "Gunnett" was my paternal grandpa's mother's maiden name.6. I like the sound of the new name—the way it feels coming out of my mouth.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

I'm giving thanks to God, because 8 months ago TODAY, I not onlysurvived open-heart surgery, my heart was repaired so it workscorrectly for the first time in...maybe forever (nobody's sure)!Anyone who knows the Doxology, please sing it today on my behalf(as well as your own).

Friday, November 13, 2009

No heart can ever tell the cost of each farewell—One circle fades, another to be born.Though sadness dims our eyes, what joy will then arise,When we meet on that Resurrection Morn.Our earthly trials and fears, our days of lonely tearsWill vanish in that Home beyond the stars.And then, as one, how sweet to worship at the feetOf Christ, who bears our healing in His scars.We’ll ever sing His praise, who guided all our ways,And anxious hearts will rest, no more to roam.So let us watch and pray, as we live ev’ry day,And each one serve Him ‘til He calls us Home.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

They disturb my sleep, keeping me up 'til dawn, waking me before first light. They buzz around my head like mosquitoes on a summer night: humming and whining, until I finally swat them and leave their carcasses on paper. Then at last, I can get some rest, until the next crop hatches and begins their annoying, seductive song—keening in my ears as they dance around my head.

Why do I write? I write for my own peace of mind, for my own sanity. I write because I must.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Hi! Just wanted to let everyone know that I saw my neuro today. MRIs and MRAs show no sign of any episode. No stroke. No TIA. Nothing. It doesn't fit any description of any particular thing, so the assumption is that it was some kind of a fluke, possibly connected with a weird, atypical, painless migraine.

Thursday, July 09, 2009

Have you ever been busy, going about your life, only to have it interrupted by...well...life? Diem interruptus! (interrupted day)

So there I was, sorting laundry, when I began to develop a visual aura. For those of you who've never had the "pleasure," an aura (for me anyway) is like that annoying little spot you get after someone takes a flash picture of you. An aura, however, can be any size or shape, can take up residence anywhere in your field of vision, and can last as long as it jolly well pleases. Also, my auras have always been translucent. What ever was being blocked by the aura was still visible, although less so.

This aura, though, was different. It developed quickly, and grew. And grew. And grew. To give you an idea....

Me: Lloyd, I’m getting a major aura.

Lloyd: What? (already, the aura has taken over about 50% of my right eye’s vision)

Me: I’ve got a really bad aura. (I realize aura is opaque)

Lloyd: How bad? (by now, the aura has almost completely blocked the vision in my right eye)

Me: I can hardly see anything!

Lloyd: Really? (vision in my right eye is totally gone)

Me: Lloyd! I have no vision in my right eye!

That really is how quickly it happened, in just the small amount of time it took to have that conversation. Ten minutes later, vision began to return. An hour or so after onset, my vision had cleared.

Long story short, I went to ER. Bloodwork (again), EKG (again), CT of head (again). Conclusion: I probably had a TIA or an optic artery spasm--possibly in connection with an atypical migraine--which temporarily created a crucial drop in blood flow to the eye.

Next Thursday, I’m scheduled for an MRI of my brain, which will look at the blood vessels there. The Monday after that, I follow up with my neurologist.

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Quote of the . . . Day?

“Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, benevolence, were all my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business! "